The beer bottle emptied with a final gurgling sound.
Qin Yu casually tossed the empty bottle aside.
It rolled across the deck, clinking crisply against the metal railing.
In the absolute stillness of the barrier, the sound was especially sharp.
Outside, the sky had brightened slightly.
The "Abyssal Lord" that had been raging in the clouds seemed to have tired itself out, or perhaps realized its lightning couldn't breach this turtle shell. The world-ending commotion finally subsided.
Only the lingering waterspouts remained, drifting aimlessly across the sea like lost ghosts.
"Full?"
Qin Yu pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
Yao Qian patted her round little belly, slumping ungracefully in her chair with cumin powder still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
"I'm stuffed… Brother Yu, why does this monster meat get hotter the more you eat?"
Yao Xue was elegantly wiping her mouth with a tissue. Hearing this, she shot her sister a sidelong glance, though an unnatural flush also colored her icy cheeks.
"That's high-energy protein. This one meal is worth a month of yoga for you."
Qin Yu chuckled, about to tease them further.
That familiar, emotionless electronic voice abruptly exploded in everyone's minds once more.
Without any preamble.
[Attention, survivors!]
[The real-time combat power rankings have been updated!]
[This update will comprehensively assess vehicle level, personal attributes, owned resources, and… "kill count"!]
[The top ten on the leaderboard will receive "Silver Treasure Chest" rewards!]
[The top three will receive "Golden Treasure Chest" rewards!]
[The first place will receive a unique reward: one "Special Attribute Card"!]
A massive virtual leaderboard slowly unfurled in mid-air.
Golden borders, blood-red characters.
Every line exuded an aura of solemn lethality.
[First Place: Qin Yu]
[Vehicle: SSS-Class Anti-Gravity Ghost Battleship (President)]
[Comprehensive Rating: ??? (Data overflow, specific values cannot be displayed)]
[Comment: He is this world's bug, the source of disaster, and also… the only path to survival.]
Utterly unsurprising.
A crushing, discontinuous lead.
Especially that rating full of question marks—like a silent slap across the faces of all who tried to catch up.
Qin Yu's gaze moved downward.
The name in second place had changed.
[Second Place: Qi Chun]
[Vehicle: SS-Class Sky Wing Prototype]
[Comprehensive Rating: S-Class]
[Comment: Fortune favors fools. Though this fatty doesn't seem too bright, his luck is genuinely good.]
As for the former second and fourth placers…
No familiar names.
All replaced.
…
"Alright."
Qin Yu stood up, taking the last drag of his cigarette.
"Break time's over."
"The leaderboard is out. Rewards should be coming."
"Ruo Bing, get ready to work."
Li Ruobing had been staring blankly at the leaderboard. Hearing Qin Yu's words, she instinctively straightened up.
"Do… do what?"
Qin Yu pointed upward.
"That bird may have quieted down, but it's still watching from above."
"We can't keep hiding in this shell forever."
Qin Yu's gaze sharpened.
"While it's calm now, set up 'Netherworld: Death's Kiss.'"
"Since it doesn't dare come down."
"Then we'll take the initiative to say hello."
...
At the same time.
In a corner of this world.
Or rather, in a dimension outside this "game world."
Inside a futuristic silver-white hall.
Countless streams of data intertwined in mid-air, forming a massive web of light.
At the center of this web were real-time surveillance feeds of the survivors.
Most screens displayed grim, tragic scenes.
Some screamed in despair amidst tsunamis.
Others shivered on broken rafts.
Some even fought each other over a piece of bread.
Only.
One feed stood out starkly from the rest.
It was surveillance window number "9527."
On the screen.
A blue barrier shielded everything from the wind and rain.
Several people were gathered around a grill, drinking beer and eating barbecue.
Their leisurely demeanor made it look like they were filming some island vacation variety show.
Thud!
A slender hand slammed heavily onto the screen, pausing and zooming in on the image.
It was a man in a deep blue uniform.
His face was concealed behind a featureless silver mask.
Only his voice, distorted by a modulator, could be heard—cold and detached.
"Is this Qin Yu?"
Beside him, a hovering spherical robot emitted a synthesized electronic tone.
"Yes, Executor."
"Qin Yu."
"Source of abnormal data fluctuations."
"He appears to have mastered some unknown rule exploit."
"That SSS-grade 'Abyssal Lord,' originally intended as the stage-four boss, was lured out early by him and even... injured."
The masked Executor snorted coldly.
"An exploit?"
"In this world, I will not allow any exploits beyond our control."
He extended a finger and lightly traced it across Qin Yu's image on the screen.
Where his fingertip passed, the image of Qin Yu eating barbecue distorted momentarily.
"Such promising material—it would be a waste to simply eliminate him."
"The viewers have been complaining lately about the plot being too dull, filled with repetitive deaths."
"Since he's so eager to stand out."
"Let's give him a little extra challenge."
The Executor turned to face the massive data wall.
His hands moved swiftly through the air, typing rapidly.
Lines of red code cascaded down like a waterfall.
"Lower the luck value in Zone 9527."
"Unlock the 'Deep Sea Terror' module."
"Since that bird in the sky can't touch him."
"Let him see what lies beneath the sea."
The spherical robot flashed red, issuing a warning.
"Warning! Warning!"
"The 'Deep Sea Terror' module belongs to stage-five content. Unlocking it prematurely may cause ecological collapse in the zone, potentially triggering irreversible chain reactions."
"Confirm?"
Beneath the mask, the Executor's lips seemed to curl into a cruel smile.
"Confirmed."
"Let it collapse."
"Eighty percent of these lab rats are already dead—a few more won't matter."
"Let me see."
"In this Abyss where even oxygen comes at a price."
"Can you, Qin Yu, still enjoy your barbecue so arrogantly?"
Thud!
The enter key was pressed.
The red command instantly transformed into an invisible stream of data, piercing through the dimensional barrier.
It headed straight for that calm sea area protected by the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl.
...
On the "President."
Qin Yu had just set up the "Netherworld: Death's Kiss."
The black gun body gleamed with a cold luster under the moonlight.
He was about to search for the large bird hiding in the clouds through the scope.
Suddenly.
His heart skipped a beat.
It was the feeling of being watched by a venomous snake.
His hairs stood on end instantly.
This intuition had saved him countless times before.
"Something's wrong."
Qin Yu abruptly lowered the gun muzzle and turned to look at the sea surface beneath his feet.
The sea, originally as calm as a mirror under the effect of the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl.
Now.
Was actually beginning to ripple with faint black undulations.
Not caused by the wind.
They were welling up from beneath the water.
That blackness was not the black of night.
But a dead, silent black, thicker than ink, more despairing than the Abyss.
"Gurgle..."
A huge bubble emerged from beneath the ship.
It burst.
Releasing a nauseating stench of decay.
Immediately after.
A second, a third...
Countless black bubbles began to surge frantically upward.
The originally azure seawater was visibly turning turbid and pitch black.
Even the blue light emitted by the Ocean Stabilizing Pearl began to dim and flicker under the erosion of this blackness.
"What is this smell?"
Yao Qian covered her nose, her face full of disgust.
"It stinks! Like salted fish that's been dead for hundreds of years!"
Yao Xue, however, paled drastically. As a doctor, she was all too sensitive to this odor.
"This isn't the smell of salted fish."
"This is methane produced from highly decomposed corpses!"
"And..."
Yao Xue pointed at the sea surface, her voice trembling.
"Look, what... is that?"
Everyone followed her pointing finger.
They saw that on the sea surface around the "President,"
after those black bubbles burst, they did not dissipate.
Instead, they coalesced into twisting masses of black mist.
Within the black mist.
Faint, pale human faces vaguely appeared.
No.
Not just human faces.
There were also severed arms, broken torsos.
Those...
Were unmistakably the survivors who had perished in the recent catastrophe!
Countless lost souls!
They had not truly dissipated.
But had been awakened by some eerie force, transformed into the resentment of this sea!
"Screech—"
A grating, teeth-chilling friction sound came from beneath the ship.
Even though it was suspended mid-air, the "President" suddenly sank downward.
As if countless invisible hands had grabbed the ship's bottom, trying to drag this steel giant ship straight into the seabed!
[Alert! Alert!]
[Unknown rule intrusion detected!]
[Regional environment mutation occurring!]
[Current region: Modified to: Sea of the Dead (Inferno Level)]
[Special event triggered: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!]
[Description: The dead souls are unwilling to sink into oblivion. They envy the living's breath. They want to drag everyone down... to hell!]
The system's red alert frame this time directly changed into a blood-dripping skull shape.
Qin Yu's pupils contracted sharply.
He felt it.
That pulling force from beneath the ship actually ignored the force field of the "Anti-Gravity Keel"!
"Gravity data anomaly!"
Li Ruobing screamed from the cockpit.
"Anti-gravity engine output at 100%, but altitude is dropping!"
"We've been caught!"
"Something... something's hanging onto the bottom of our ship!"
Qin Yu rushed to the railing and looked down.
At that sight.
Even someone as ruthless as Qin Yu couldn't help but gasp in shock.
Beneath the hull of the President.
Densely packed, layer upon layer.
Countless pale arms stretched out from the pitch-black seawater, firmly gripping the seams of the ship's armor.
Like barnacles, they intertwined and piled upon each other.
Forming a massive human ladder!
And at the very bottom of that ladder.
In the unfathomable darkness.
A pair of crimson giant eyes seemed to slowly open.
Filled with boundless malice, they stared fixedly at Qin Yu above.
"You want my life?"
Qin Yu's hands gripped the railing tightly, his knuckles turning white.
But the panic on his face lasted only a second.
The next moment.
It was replaced by a madness more ferocious than any vengeful spirit.
"Just finished dealing with the ones in the sky, and now the ones below come to join the fun."
"Fine."
"Since you don't want to stay dead."
"Then I'll just kill you all again!"
"Li Ruobing!"
Qin Yu's roar echoed across the deck.
"Deactivate silent mode!"
"Switch 'Netherworld: Death's Kiss' to Shipborne Form!"
"If it's a Night Parade of One Hundred Demons."
"Then today, I'll give you all... a nuclear pacification!"
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